


May 2nd

by lunarlychallenged



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Happy May 2nd, I hate it, May 2nd, Molly is very sad, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Victoire's birth, but babies are nice, for the Weasley Protection Squad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-03
Updated: 2018-05-03
Packaged: 2019-05-01 10:39:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14518671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunarlychallenged/pseuds/lunarlychallenged
Summary: Why the baby decided to come on the anniversary of the worst day of Molly's life, she would never understand.





	May 2nd

“No,” Molly Weasley said. Her voice shook, hands wringing her apron into tight balls. 

“What do you mean, no?” Arthur gaped at her, eyes bright and smile tugging at his cheeks. He was as dashing when he smiled as he had been the day they met, but in that moment, she hated his smile. She hated the way his eyes danced with bewildered delight. She hated the fact that he was tugging on his shoes and pulling on a bright purple jacket. He should have been wearing all black. He should have been weeping. 

“I mean, no, it can’t be happening today,” she said. Not today, of all days. Not on May 2nd.

Arthur gave a bewildered huff of laughter. He staggered a little by the door, glasses sliding precariously down his nose. “Powerful though you may be, Mols, I don’t think that you can control when a baby is born.”

In a moment of childishness that would have filled her with shame if anybody else had seen, Molly stamped her foot. Sparks flew upon impact. A current shuddered through the ground, rattling the dishes on the table from their interrupted breakfast. She and Arthur had been having eggs with bits of bacon and cheese mixed in. She didn’t like her eggs that way, but it had always been his favorite. Molly had been planning to have his favorite foods all day. Her other children were supposed to be coming by later in the day to swap memories and make her feel simultaneously better and worse about the fact that she had lived for two terrible, beautiful years after the death of her fourth son.

Instead of a day of grief and loss, she would have to attend the birth of her first grandchild. That should have happened on a beautiful day. She should have been happy, or confused, or maybe just scared. She should not have been angry, and she certainly should not have been neglecting her love for one child in favor of rejoicing with another.

Arthur stared at her. She had not lost control of her magic in, oh, thirty-five years. He walked to her, cautiously reaching for one of her hands to cradle in his own. “Molly, it’s happening today. Are you coming?”

She glared at her husband. “It can’t happen today. I’m not ready.” 

He pressed his lips against her hand. He knew that she was ready for the birth. She had knitted three different baby blankets, made a new spoon to go on her clock, and decided that she wanted to be called “Nana.” She had been so excited, but the baby had decided to come on the one day that she simply could not allow.

“I know,” he murmured against her knuckles. His lips were slightly scratchy with stubble that he had not bothered to shave yet. The stubble gleamed with red and hints of gold against his pale face. “I know you aren’t, but you can’t stop living because he did.”

“We have to,” she said. He throat was closing, tears threatening to spill. “What kind of life is it without him?”

“How can we know if we don’t try to find out?” Arthur backed away slowly, a humorless smile gracing his face. “We have to try, Mols. Fred lived more in twenty years than anybody else could in a lifetime.” She flinched when he said their son’s name, but Arthur powered on. “We have to try, if not for ourselves, than for him.”

“But today -”

“Today is the day that allowed so many others to live. We lost so, so much two years ago, and we won’t forget. But we also gained so much, dear. Harry gets to live a real life. Muggleborns don’t have to live in fear. Now, two years later, we will have our first grandchild.” He finished lacing his trainers and straightened. “I’ll go on ahead. If you can’t come, I’ll understand.”

He did not continue, but Molly could hear the unspoken words. If you can’t come. Bill will never forgive you. None of them will.

Arthur gave a quick turn and was gone, apparating to St. Mungos. St. Mungos, where her family was waiting. She instinctively looked back at the clock on the wall, heart already knowing what her head refused to remember. Everybody was there. Her children, both by blood and by love, were all at the hospital. All but one - her Fred was not at the hospital. Her Fred was not on the clock at all. He was dead, two years gone. He was dead, and she was alive, and a mother outliving her son should have been the greatest and most terrible sin of all.

She did not wipe away the tears that streaked her cheeks. She never did. He deserved every tear she had to give him, though he surely would not have wanted them. He would not have wanted her tears. Everything he had ever done had been in pursuit of laughter, from his school hijinks to his career path. When the world was at its darkest, his smile would light it up.

He would have smiled when he found out that Bill and Fleur were having their baby. He would have smiled, and he would have been the first to go to them.  
With that, Molly went to her room to get dressed. She would go, and she would probably cry the entire time, and she would probably be a bigger mess than she had ever been, but she would go.

 

Everybody was at the hospital, just as the clock had said. Some of them, like Ron and Ginny, looked as though they had crawled directly out of bed to come. Others, like Harry, Percy, and Hermione, were glowing with delight. Arthur had practically melted with relief when Molly apparated in. He pulled her in for a hug, but Molly’s eyes went straight to George.

She reached her hand over Arthur’s shoulder to him, and he took it. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She had nothing new to say, and nothing she had said in the past had been able to heal the broken pieces they had.

“H’lo, Mum,” he said. His eyes were watery. His eyes were made of the same broken glass that her heart was, and Molly knew in that heart rather than in her mind that there was nothing that could put those broken pieces back together. 

Despite the depth of sadness that the other Weasley’s felt, Molly had always known that George was the only one who could understand what she was going through.

“Oh,” she sniffled. That was all she found in the gaping chasm of loss, and it meant nothing at all, but it somehow made her feel a little better to say it.

He gave a shaky laugh. “Fred would have loved this.”

She nodded, finally allowing herself to believe it. Fred would have loved it.

 

Fleur was beautiful, even after hours of labor, but Molly could not bring herself to resent her for it. Fleur was radiant, Bill had been smiling through a stream of silent tears since before Molly had arrived, and the baby was perfect. 

After Bill and Fleur had held her, Molly was the first to hold the little thing. She smiled, a tear falling from the tip of her nose onto the child’s face. The baby’s face twitched, displeasure only lasting as long as it took to fall back asleep.

“She’s beautiful,” George whispered. He stood behind her, gazing down at the baby as though she held the first ounce of hope he had found in two years. “I can’t believe you made that, Bill.”

Bill laughed. “You and me both, mate.”

Molly shifted a little to allow George to nudge at the baby’s hand with his finger. His finger was massive in comparison, but the baby instinctively grabbed at it. George gave a shaky sigh, giving the small hand a quick caress.

“What’s her name?” Molly tore her gaze from the baby to look at her son and his wife.

Fleur beamed. “Victoire.”

Victory. On May 2nd, 1998, the Weasley family lost everything. This baby, this new life, could not replace the one they had lost, but she could be something new. On May 2nd, 2000, the Weasley family finally found their victory. Two years later than everybody else, maybe, but well worth the wait.


End file.
